


Misgivings

by corvobiancos



Series: TLOU Oneshots [4]
Category: The Last of Us (Video Games)
Genre: Everybody Lives, Gen, Off-Screen Scene, and bringing ellie to jackson was just a last ditch suggestion since tommy used to be a firefly, i have a feeling that tess and tommy weren't super chummy to begin with
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:41:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26147338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corvobiancos/pseuds/corvobiancos
Summary: Tess, having survived Boston in my canon, arrives on the outskirts of Tommy's settlement in the hopes of eventually reuniting with Joel and Ellie.
Series: TLOU Oneshots [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1796053
Kudos: 12





	Misgivings

**Author's Note:**

> I needed to write SOMETHING, so here's a thing. It's not very long, but it's a thing, I suppose.

**JACKSON, 2033.**

Having set up camp and been using her truck both as shelter and her place to sleep, Tess looked through her binoculars, seeing Tommy's compound at the base of one of the lower mountains. They had cleared out a huge plain around the settlement, and Tess had chosen to set up camp on one of the ridges at the edge. She and her truck were well within sight, and thus far no one had fired a shot. At least his people were still friendly enough.

Now the question was: Was Tommy willing to let her in? They hadn't parted on the best of terms back in Austin, and he was fully within his rights to refuse to give her shelter with his people.

As soon as she arrived one morning, she had unloaded her firearms and laid them out several feet from her truck, within sight of their watchtowers. It was the best way short of walking up to the gate and telling them that she wasn't hostile. Of course, she wasn't stupid enough to leave them out overnight; there were bandits roaming the area picking the old stores and homes dry anticipating winter. Tess would have a death wish if she left her weapons out there while she was asleep.

Well, she kind of _did_ have a death wish, but she wanted to die more valiantly than being shot and robbed in her sleep. She was Tess Fucking Barton—she was _only_ going out swinging, or she wasn't going out at all.

She spent the day in her camp, letting their sentries watch her. She figured that one of them would eventually pass word down to Tommy, and she was counting on him coming out to meet her. That was where she would reunite with Tommy, and they would hash things out. She hoped he would be generous enough to bury the hatchet and let her prove she had changed.

Worst case scenario, she would move on. She had been alone before; she could do it again.

Tess repeated her routine the next morning and waited. She had enough food to be there for a couple days to wait on them to send out a patrol to contact her.

And that was _exactly_ what they did. Early in the afternoon she saw two men on horseback riding across the plain outside the wall, heading toward her camp. Tess kept her cool, opting to sit and wait for them to find her. It was the only way she thought she looked friendly. It was almost an hour before she finally heard hoof prints near her camp, and she took that as her cue to slowly get out of the truck and greet them.

Both men dismounted their horses and hitched them to a nearby tree, and Tess said slowly, "My name's Tess. I used to know Tommy a while back.”

They both remained silent as they tied off the reins. In the meantime, Tess held her hands up and waited for a response.

One of them, an older one with dirty blond hair said, “Must be downright stupid to come ‘ere, Tess.” He finally turned to face her, and Tommy’s face greeted her. He was rougher and had a few more scars, but it was him.

And he was _not_ happy to see her. In hindsight, Tommy would have left Austin even if he hadn’t joined the Fireflies, because the two of them always had the opposite opinion on everything under the sun. Tess thought the Fireflies were pointless; Tommy borderline-idolized them. Tess “made use” of their missing neighbors’ gear when they disappeared beyond the perimeter wall; Tommy called her a thief.

Tess took a breath and replied calmly, “Well, being stupid’s gotten me _this_ far, y’know?”

Tommy approached her, hands on his hips. She noticed he had a pistol holstered beneath one of his hands. His partner flanked him and crossed his arms, gaze fixed on her. Tommy continued, "Where's Joel?"

Tess's throat clenched. She heard a commotion outside the capitol building back in Boston, but FEDRA had brought out a tank with a machine gun to pursue them. She certainly _hoped_ Joel and Ellie made it out safely. Tess took a breath before she answered. "...Got split up in Boston."

She saw rage bubbling behind Tommy's eyes.

Tess shook her head, "I _looked_ for 'im okay? You know Joel; he's probably fine. I told him to meet me here."

"Y'didn't have somewhere out _there_ you could've met up?"

"Trust me, there was no way we were gettin' back into Boston after what happened. The farther away we were from that place, the better. Comin' here sounded like a good idea at the time."

He sighed, glancing down at his feet for an instant before glaring up at her again. "You really think he coulda made it across the damn country alone?"

"I did," Tess spat, " _Twice._ If there's anyone else that can do it it's him..." She trailed off.

"Tess," Tommy deadpanned.

"...Marlene had us smuggling some cargo out to the capitol building back in the city. She had a squad ready to hand off, and we were supposed to get some weapons. Shoulda been an easy job."

Tommy eyed her. "How bad did you fuck this one up, Tess?"

"FEDRA got there first; ambushed us. I bought Joel and the kid some time—"

"Kid? Marlene had y'all smugglin' a _kid?_ "

"Ellie isn't just a kid, Tommy! She's immune!"

"The hell do you mean ' _immune_ '?" Tommy caught himself raising his voice and looked around them for any surprises.

"I mean she had a bite on her arm, and it was scarred over," Tess said, "People turn before bites can scar over. I'm tellin' you, this girl's immune."

Tommy took a moment. She watched him sigh and pace around her camp a bit. She was the last person who would normally believe something like immunity to the CBI existed, and he knew that. She was the first to tell him his choice to join the Fireflies was the dumbest decision he'd ever made. After an agonizing length of silence, Tess spoke again, "I _know_ I'm the last person you're gonna believe, but I saw it, Tommy. Your brother did too. If the Fireflies know how to use her to make a vaccine...we gotta at least _try_."

"Why send 'em out here?"

"You're the only Firefly we know other than Marlene, and there was no way she was gonna tell us shit about where to take this kid if her people couldn't finish it." Tess paused, dreading her next point. She wasn't going to last much longer on her own. Tess had to do it.

She sighed, "...I might already know the answer, but..."

"Spit it out, Tess." Tommy's words were harsh, but his tone had softened a bit. A good sign, maybe?

Tess finished, "Can I stay for a while? I'll do everything I can to help out, I promise."

She watched Tommy study her. Tess was ready for him to say no. She still had enough gas to at least get halfway from there to Seattle, if she couldn't siphon more on the way. Tommy pursed his lips, crossing his arms and looking out toward the settlement for a moment. He turned to face her again and finished, "...The _second_ you do somethin' I don't like, you're out."


End file.
